Kansas public defense is at a crisis point, officials say, with overworked attorneys struggling to provide adequate services in the midst of a worker shortage. Heather Cessna, executive director of the Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services, gave lawmakers an overview of the agency’s situation Thursday, during a House Judiciary Committee meeting. Kansas doesn’t have enough criminal defense counsel to meet the volume of cases being charged by prosecutors. Cessna said the agency was drowning, grappling with a worker shortage, poor pay and long hours.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler

Three bills that would help Kansas parents trying to save money on school supplies were received favorably by legislators on Thursday. During a Senate Committee on Assessment and Taxation meeting, Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, committee chair, said she was optimistic about passing some form of  legislation to help out Kansans buying for school in August. Tyson said states that had some form of sales tax holidays, such as Missouri and Oklahoma, were taking dollars from Kansas parents who needed supplies. She said some of the original opposition to this sort of sales tax holiday in 2011, when it was first discussed, came from lawmakers who didn’t believe people would go to a different state to save money.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler